Bands You Should Know: The End of America

Bands You Should Know: The End of America

I just discovered the band The End of America and they’ve quickly become one of my favorite bands recording right now. Their debut album, Steep Bay was recorded over 9 days in and around a remote cabin on Schroon Lake, located in the heart of the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York.

The result is 9 songs with an energy and fire you can’t get from a studio. Steep Bay has jumped to the top of my “Best of 2011″ list (yes, I know it’s early in the year) and is very much worth checking out. You can buy the album digitally for $4.99 or buy the CD w/ a poster for $8.99 HERE.

Hear a song, watch 2 videos and read the press release after the jump.

THE END OF AMERICASteep Bay LP (Forest Park Recordings-12/14/10)RIYL: Elliott Smith, Rocky Votolato, Ryan Adams, Iron & Wine
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The End of America is not some grand political statement. Instead, it is an honest attempt between three friends to return music to its purest form. After years on the road with numerous bands, James Downes, Brendon Thomas, and Trevor Leonard found themselves all searching for meaning within the chaos of present day America. In the past the trio had discussed recording music in remote locations where they could distance themselves from the trappings of modern life. From these conversations sprung the concept of The End of America: to travel to the ends of the continent in search of inspiration and to write and record on the spot in unique locations.

The End of Americaâ€™s debut album, Steep Bay, was recorded live in a cabin on Schroon Lake, located in the heart of the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York. The album is named after the cove on which the cabin was built: a beautiful bay surrounded by rock cliffs and towering pine trees, beyond the reach of power lines, accessible only by boat.

One mid-July afternoon the trio made the drive up to the family cabin and paddled across at dusk. The old canoe that carried them could barely hold their weight let alone the gear, but they made it over safely just as the sun was setting. Their first recording was by the light of campfire that night, guitars on the shore under a sky full of stars. Using a small battery powered recording device with two mic inputs, the group set up everywhere – in the cabin, on the porch, even out on the water.

In the course of one week the trio wrote and recorded the album live, unedited, 9 tracks in all. The takes that were kept are from performances that felt the most honest, regardless of minor imperfections. Steep Bay is as much a documentary as it is a record; an intimate snapshot of three friends living off the grid, trying to reconcile and understand life the only way they know how, through the emotions of music.